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More on IBS-STL: The Bible Society plans to gather the Christian book trade in January

20/11/2009 14:30:00


More on the STL/Wesley owen story I wrote about on Monday. From today's Church Times: IBS-STL decides to 'exit the business'. The story also discusses the role that the Bible Society are taking in bringing the book trade together:

The Bible Society, which owns the Christian Resources Exhibition and the Christian Booksellers Convention, said on Wednesday that it was committed to “rebuilding a confidence among the Christian retail trade for the future”. It is planning a conference in early January for all those engaged in the industry to come together and discuss the future.

Elsewhere, an article in Civil Society notes that "It is the first time in recent history that a top-250 charity has chosen to wind up". It also reports that the company who sold the ill-fated computer system to STL is still considering the problem:

SAP is yet to respond to IBS-STL UK's criticism of its ERP system. A spokeswoman told Civil Society: "They are still talking about and trying to get to grips with the problem."

For those wondering how the global IBS-STL business (publishers of the NIV Bible) might be affected Christian Bookshop Talk has some answers.

The financial health of the US organization is stronger, partly because of the 30+ year success of the NIV Bible which is owned by Biblica US, our parent company. The financial health of the two organizations (US and UK) are completely separate. The US organization is legally different from the UK, borrows from different banks, and abides by different laws that govern charities in each country.

The new Everything Christian blog suggests that Authentic media might be the easiest part of the business for another organisation to take over. See also Ian's comment here.

Simon Jones calls for 'missional thinking' for Christian bookshops on his blog: Missional thinking about the high street

There is much discussion on a range of UK sites, including Phil Groom's Christian Bookshops blog (And so it ends), Ship of Fools (Wesley Owen: The end?), Clayboy's site (The end of Christian Bookshops?) and at the Church Mouse residence (Farewell Wesley Owen).





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